AMA Supercross Ken Roczen Sweeps 3 Rounds at Indy

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN — February 7, 2021

Monster Energy AMA Supercross Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday tripleheader from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis brought clarity to both the 450 SX and 250 SX East points standings.

250 SX East

The first three rounds from Houston saw different winners in each round and both classes. In Round 4 at Indy, Colt Nichols(64) put a stop to that becoming the first repeat winner in the 250 SX East. In the process, he broke the tie for the points lead he held with teammate Christian Craig(29). But, Jett Lawrence(18) was the wild card, bulldozing his way into 3rd in the points while piling up collisions with many of the top 250 SX riders.

In Tuesday’s Round 5, Nichols made it three wins in a row as he opened an 11 point lead on Craig. Most notably Lawrence likely took himself out of contention with bad crashes in practice and his heat race. He won the LCQ to make the main event but withdrew before the start. As a result, Lawrence failed to gain a point and dropped 39 points behind Nichols in the standings.

Had he taken the gate drop and pulled off the track he would have been credited with a last-place finish and 1 point. Will he come to regret that decision at the end of the season?

Saturday’s Action in Round 6

Lawrence took the lead from the start in Heat 1, as the laps wore down Mitchell Oldenburg(49) passed for the top spot. Jo Shimoda(30) followed Oldenburg through and began his challenge for the lead. Shimoda takes out Oldenburg and it’s Lawrence who benefits by regaining 1st position. In a failed effort Shimoda tries to recover the top spot but pushes too hard and lands on a tough block coming off a jump.

Lawrence wins, Oldenburg takes 2nd, and Shimoda settles for 3rd.

In Heat 2, Craig took the early lead only to be caught and passed by Nichols who looked to continue his domination of the 250 SX main events. Michael Mosiman(42) became another victim of the injury bug, breaking his hand earlier in the day and not able to report to the gate for his heat.

In the Main Event. Nichols and Craig battle for the lead from the drop of the gate, Lawrence get caught up in traffic at the start and has to work his way through it.  Oldenburg wins the holeshot, but it’s Nichols to the front quickly.

Disaster strikes on Lap 1 as Nichols gets cross-rutted and goes headfirst over the handlebars. By the time he recovers and gets back atop his bike, Nichols is in last. Craig takes over the lead, while Shimoda and Oldenburg battle for 2nd. The storyline shifts to how many points will Nichols lose due to his 1st lap mistake.

At the 10 minutes remaining mark, Nichols had worked his way to 11th. At the halfway point of the timed portion, Craig is holding a 10-second lead and Nichols is up to 6th. Lawrence managed to rebound to the 4th spot and when Nichols catches him the two fight it out. Blocking effectively Lawrence manages to keep Nichols behind in 5th.

As the laps wind down Lawrence passes Oldenburg for 3rd as the riders begin to encounter heavy lapped traffic. Nichols passes Oldenburg for 4th and begins to track down Lawrence again. Lappers cost Lawrence the position as Nichols uses the slower riders to his advantage. Lawrence pushes to get the spot back but ends up being forced off the track.

Craig easily outdistances Shimoda for the win as Nichols makes it to the podium with the “ride of the season” culminating in a 3rd place finish. Oldenburg takes 4th and Lawrence 5th.

Nichols points lead is cut to six and the East Championship battle comes down to him and Craig. With Shimoda, 24 points back, and Lawrence 41 behind they would need dire consequences to befall the two leaders to get back into contention.

250 SX East Round 6 Main Event Results

250 SX East Points Standings

450 SX

Ken Roczen(94) became the 4th different winner in the 450 SX class with his victory in Round 4 at Indy. Roczen then repeated with a win in Round 5, he was looking for the 3-peat as Round 6 wrapped up the Indy tripleheader.

Roczen was matched against defending series champion Eli Tomac(1) in Heat 1 of Round 6. Tomac was looking to end Roczen dominance get the gate selection advantage in Main. The pair ran 1-2 the whole race with Roczen taking the win. Tomac closed several times on the leader but could not get close enough to make the pass. Michigan’s Broc Tickle(20) makes the feature by finishing 8th.

In Heat 2 fastest qualifier, Cooper Webb(2), got off to a bad start. Marvin Musquin(25) took advantage and went to the lead. But, he hit a tuff block, lost his balance, and fell over. Justin Barcia(51) inherited the lead and rode to the win. Webb recovered to finish 2nd.

Justin Brayton(10) crashed out of his heat and had to run in the LCQ to earn a spot in the Main. He did with a come from behind victory moving from 5th to 1st.

In the Main event, Barcia gets the holeshot, but Roczen quickly moves to the lead. Barcia, Webb, Adam Cianciarulo(9), and Tomac all follow. Barcia tries to pressure Roczen early as he overshoots a corner and makes contact with the leader’s bike. Luckily for Roczen, no damage results and he quickly moves away to build his lead.

With Roczen out front, the battle for podium spots heats up with 5-minutes to go. Webb passes Barcia for 2nd, Tomac also gets by. Barcia works his way back past Tomac but gets caught up with the lapped bike of Vince Friese(40) and both riders go down. Tomac gets collected in the incident.

Webb and Musquin join Roczen on the podium, while Tomac finishes 7th, Barcia drops to 19th. Tickle finishes a respectable 13th.

Roczen extends his points lead of Webb to 16, 138-122. Tomac is 3rd, 24 points behind the leader. Cianciarulo is 4th, 9 back of Tomac. Barcia and Dylan Ferrandis(9) are tied for 5th, 42 points behind Roczen. Tickle moved up to 13th in the season standings.

450 SX Round 6 Main Event Results

450 SX Points Standings

Next week the series moves to Orlando for a doubleheader and then makes their annual visit to Daytona.